Category Archives: World News

Putin self-isolates after coronavirus found in entourage

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Russian president is not sick but will no longer hold in-person meetings this week, says Kremlin

Vladimir Putin has gone into self-isolation because of an outbreak of coronavirus in his entourage, the Kremlin has announced.

Although the Russian president was not sick, a Kremlin spokesperson told journalists, he would cease holding in-person meetings and would not travel to Dushanbe this week for summits of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and Collective Security Treaty Organization.

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‘These are the facts’: Black educators silenced from teaching America’s racist past

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As 22 states pass or consider legislation on race and racism discourse in classrooms, some Black teachers are reminded daily that their racial identity is a liability

History teacher Valanna White filed into the auditorium the first week of August for the customary back-to-school all-staff meeting at Walker Valley high school in Cleveland, Tennessee. What she heard shifted her outlook for the coming school year. On 1 July, a new law took effect banning the teaching of critical race theory in Tennessee public schools. White listened intently as a school district official gave a vague overview informing the group that critical race theory was prohibited, though without fully explaining what critical race theory entails. Instead, teachers were told a list of actions – such as discussing racial discrimination – that were forbidden.

White left the meeting confused and frustrated. Tennessee’s academic standards for US history require high school teachers to cover topics including Jim Crow laws, Plessy v Ferguson – the 1896 supreme court case upholding the separate-but-equal doctrine – and the civil rights movement. “I can’t talk about the civil rights movement without talking about Bloody Sunday and the premise behind Bloody Sunday, the premise behind voter suppression,” she said, dreading the repercussions “for just teaching my standards”.

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Trudeau energized by anti-vaccine protests in Canada election few wanted

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The prime minister trails the Conservatives in polls but has found new impetus in pursuit of a third term to secure his legacy


When he was pelted with a handful of gravel by anti-vaccine protesters last week, the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, joined an illustrious list of political leaders who have had things hurled at them by disgruntled citizens. His father, former prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, had rocks (and tomatoes and eggs) thrown at his train car in the early 1980s.

But the gravel incident – which led to charges of assault with a weapon against the protester – has thrust the image of a prime minister on the defensive to the forefront of an election that, for many, is unwanted and has so far lacked a coherent theme.

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Coronavirus live news: new China outbreak grows; UK health secretary to set out booster plans

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China reports 59 new cases compared to 22 the day before; Sajid Javid will set out the details in winter Covid plan for England in on Tuesday

The UK vaccines minister has said he is hopeful that the over-50s booster campaign will be the “last piece of the jigsaw” for ending the pandemic, but that he is concerned about the incoming flu season.

Nadhim Zahawi told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:

This is probably the last piece of the jigsaw to allow us to transition this virus from pandemic to endemic and i hope by next year we’ll be in the position to deal with this virus... as we do with flu.

I am concerned, there’s not much flu circulating anywhere in the world and a bad flu year puts enormous pressure on the NHS but also we could lose 20,000-25,000 people to a bad flu season.

Children aged 12-15 will be given their first coronavirus vaccines from next week, the UK’s vaccines minister has confirmed.

Nadhim Zahawi told BBC Breakfast:

The NHS has been making plans that will hopefully be able to see the first vaccinations take place after consent, because obviously you need the information and the letters to go out and to receive that consent, by the 22nd of this month.

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Will he or won’t he? Why Trump’s tease over 2024 suits him just fine

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No one quite knows if the former president will run again, but stoking the fire flatters his ego and keeps the cash rolling in

The date Saturday 9 October 2021 might go down in political history. Or at least that is what Donald Trump would like you to believe.

That night, Trump will hold a rally in Iowa, the celebrated launchpad for US presidential candidates, the state that goes first in the major parties’ selection process and that is already drawing potential contenders for the Republican nomination in 2024.

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Taliban’s return ‘a catastrophe’ for journalism in Afghanistan

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Head of International Federation of Journalists says ‘future is black’ for 1,300 journalists still in country

Journalism in Afghanistan is in danger of disappearing, according to the head of the International Federation of Journalists, who said that reporters trying to continue working under the Taliban have been subjected to beatings and imprisonment.

“The Taliban don’t want to make too many waves right now, but they will want to take control of everything, including the foreign press in Afghanistan,” Anthony Bellanger, the IFJ secretary general, told the Guardian. “And as often happens in such situations, foreign journalists will be considered agents of foreign governments.

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Most plans for new coal plants scrapped since Paris agreement

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Report by climate groups found more than three-quarters of projects were discarded after the deal was signed

The global pipeline of new coal power plants has collapsed since the 2015 Paris climate agreement, according to research that suggests the end of the polluting energy source is in sight.

The report found that more than three-quarters of the world’s planned plants have been scrapped since the climate deal was signed, meaning 44 countries no longer have any future coal power plans.

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‘Every man was drinking’: how much do bans on alcohol help women in India?

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Women’s protests led to prohibition in Bihar but can alcohol bans end domestic abuse and harassment?

Holding sticks and brooms, the women marched to the liquor shop in the centre of Konar village. It was a rare ambush in the staunchly patriarchal Bihar state in eastern India. But they were at breaking point.

“In every village women were troubled by alcohol. Men harassed them on the streets. Husbands beat them at home,” says Sunita Devi, 52, a former seamstress who led the crowd. “When they saw us they gained courage that we can come together and fight.”

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Weatherwatch: Venezuela’s varied climate

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Country’s topography means local variations in temperature and rainfall can be very pronounced

The most northerly country in South America, Venezuela is also the sixth largest – roughly one-and-a-half times the size of France or Texas. It is very varied topographically, from the northernmost part of the Andes mountains in the west, via the Orinoco River, which runs across the country towards its coastal delta, to the Guiana Highlands in the east.

Being so close to the equator, there is very little variation in temperature from month to month: the capital, Caracas, has typical daily maxima in the mid-20s, and night-time temperatures in the mid-teens, throughout the year. It is noticeably cooler than coastal cities because of its higher altitude: roughly 1,050 metres (3,420ft) above sea level.

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‘Time to take sides’: post-Merkel era needs radical new direction, says study

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German chancellor’s consensus-building approach no longer sustainable in crisis-hit Europe, report says

After 15 years of “Merkelism” the German chancellor’s neutral, consensus-building approach means many Europeans accept her country as the EU’s leader – but post-Angela Merkel Berlin will have to radically change tack, according to a study.

“Angela Merkel has come to embody a strong and stable Germany, positioning herself as Europe’s anchor though more than a decade of crises,” said Piotr Buras, the co-author of the report by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR).

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‘The virus is painfully real’: vaccine hesitant people are dying – and their loved ones want the world to listen

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In the UK, the majority of those now in hospital with Covid-19 are unvaccinated. Many face their last days with enormous regret, and their relatives are telling their stories to try to convince others like them

Matt Wynter, a 42-year-old music agent from Leek, Staffordshire, was working out in his local gym in mid-August when he saw, to his great surprise, that his best friend, Marcus Birks, was on the television. He jumped off the elliptical trainer and listened carefully.

The first thing he noticed was that Birks, who was also from Leek and a performer with the dance group Cappella, looked terrible. He was gasping for breath and his face was pale. “Marcus would never usually have gone on TV without having done his hair and had a shave,” Wynter says.

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Questions in Kabul as two top Taliban leaders ‘missing from public view’

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Group’s leader, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, and one of their most recognisable faces, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, have not been seen

Two senior Taliban leaders have gone missing from public view, leading some Afghans to question whether the group’s supreme leader and new deputy prime minister are alive.

Related: Taliban assure UN over safety and security of humanitarian workers

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New Zealand Māori party launches petition to change country’s name to Aotearoa

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Party wants all original te reo Māori place names to be officially restored across the country in the next five years

The Māori party has launched a petition to change New Zealand’s official name to Aotearoa, the te reo Māori, indigenous language name for the country.

“It’s well past time that Te Reo Māori was restored to its rightful place as the first and official language of this country,” Te Pāti Māori leaders, Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said in a statement launching the petition. “We are a Polynesian country – we are Aotearoa.”

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Antony Blinken in angry exchanges with Republicans over Afghanistan – video

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US secretary of state pushed back against criticism of the military withdrawal from Afghanistan. Blinked said the Biden administration inherited Donald Trump's deal with the Taliban but no plan for carrying it out

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Give Lorde a break. Non-Māori must speak Māori for it to survive | Morgan Godfery

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If we must wait for the perfect circumstances to speak or sing te reo, we may as well sign the language’s death certificate

My sisters and I are the first generation in almost 50 generations of our family who didn’t grow up speaking te reo Māori as a first language. At first, that fact seems startling – a dramatic rupture from our past and the language that gives form to it. We are only three generations removed from ancestors who were Māori-speaking monoglots, ordering their lives and their world in a language almost foreign to their 21st-century descendants.

But this break between the language our ancestors spoke and the language we speak – English – is the typical Māori experience: only one in five Māori can hold a conversation in their ancestral language, and in the past three national surveys this number has fallen. That makes us anglophones a firm majority in our Indigenous populace.

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Norway election result: Labour celebrates but coalition talks loom

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Labour’s Jonas Gahr Støre on course to be prime minister after Conservative incumbent concedes defeat but faces hard choices on picking allies

Norway’s Conservative prime minister Erna Solberg has conceded defeat to the left-leaning opposition after a general election campaign dominated by questions about the future of the key oil industry in western Europe’s largest producer.

“The Conservative government’s work is finished for this time around,” Solberg told supporters on Monday. “I want to congratulate Jonas Gahr Støre, who now seems to have a clear majority for a change of government.”

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We don’t live in isolation. Our ancestors’ trauma can affect our health generations later | Himali McInnes

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Our wellbeing is inextricably linked to our childhoods, which in turn is influenced by the lives of our parents and grandparents

If there is one patient who has opened my eyes to my own cognitive bias and who has helped me to recognise the profound effect of the past on a person’s health, it is my patient Arama*.

“Hey, what’s up, doc?” says Arama as he walks into my consulting room one day. He’s weaving a little, his breath reeks of alcohol, his speech is slurred. He wants to get some antibiotics for a chesty cough that he’s had for a week.

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Taliban takeover of Afghanistan will reshape Middle East, official warns

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Gulf states are having to reconsider their alliances and especially whether they can still trust the US, says senior source

The Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan is a shattering earthquake that will shape the Middle East for many years, a senior Gulf official has said, warning that – despite the group’s promises of moderation – the militant group is “essentially the same” as last time it was in power.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the official also said that the rapid and chaotic US withdrawal also raises serious questions for Gulf states about the value of US promises of security over the next 20 years.

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Covid live: UK and EU urged to stop blocking vaccine patent waiver; ‘sudden and severe wave’ in Syria’s Idlib

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Médecins Sans Frontières says waiver would allow faster production; cases in Syria’s rebel-held Idlib province have soared since mid-August

Trials of localised lockdowns will begin in the Philippines’ capital Manila this week as the country tries to contain its worst coronavirus outbreak while also opening the economy.

A shift towards localised lockdowns in the Manila area was delayed last week because of the levels of infection.

After months of uncertainty, the UK’s four chief medical officers have said that Covid-19 vaccinations can be offered to all 12-to-15-year-olds. How was the decision made, how will the vaccines be rolled out, and what difference will they make?

Related: How will the Covid vaccine rollout to 12-to-15-year-olds in UK work?

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Fisherman in Greece accused of throwing dead body back into sea

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Man allegedly caught 74-year-old who had died while spearfishing in his net but failed to report it

A fisherman in Greece has been arrested after allegedly catching a dead spearfisherman in his net and throwing the body back into the sea.

The alleged incident happened on Sunday, the same day that a 74-year-old man who had been out spearfishing in shallow waters was reported missing near the coast of Pelion.

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